


Riley + Codex + Undercover + Promise

by Lydsorama



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn, Undercover Missions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:20:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29323071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lydsorama/pseuds/Lydsorama
Summary: Codex is back and Riley has to make the decision to possibly break a big promise she made to Mac. If she does then will Mac ever trust her again? Let alone see her ever again...
Relationships: Angus MacGyver & Desiree "Desi" Nguyen, Angus MacGyver & Matilda "Matty" Webber (MacGyver TV 2016), Riley Davis & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Riley Davis & Matilda "Matty" Webber, Riley Davis/Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Comments: 44
Kudos: 107





	1. The decision

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic ever so sorry if I’m a beginner. This was I idea I had while I was laying in bed and thought why not write it down.
> 
> Hope you enjoy. Xx

The week started as usual. They got called in to go on a mission and it was a simple data collection, Go in disguised get the data and get out. This time they had to collect data from a terrorist organisation in Cuba. Mac and Russ walked in as ‘cleaners’ and collected the hard drive hidden in a filing cabinet inside the guarded main office upstairs. It all went smoothly and it felt like it was going too smoothly. Riley knew there was something up, Matty rarely gave them easy missions anymore she just let someone else deal with it. Mac and Russ still seemed pleased with the fact they managed to pull off the mission so smoothly without any problems or need to “improvise” but Riley could tell there was something off she just couldn’t figure out what.

  
They all got back to the War room and did their usual debrief and then got told they can leave. As normal they were all going to stay and do various tasks and chores around the Phoenix as a way to pass time. Riley say up from the now warm leather chair she was sitting on and walked outside giving Matty and Russ a gentle smile on the way out.

Everyone left to go do their chores and Riley decided to do so too. 

**-The lab-**

“Hey you have been working on that for a while haven’t you?” Mac asked as he gently approached Riley and grabbed a small chair to sit next to her.

“Yeah Russ made me upgrade the security, ever since codex he’s been nagging me to make sure this place virtually impossible to hack into” she said while sighing.   
“You’re Riley Davis, if anyone can do it then it’s you.” She gave him a calm smile to say thank you.  
They both then continued their work in comfortable silence just appreciating that the other one was there for each other, even when times where rough especially when Jack had just died they were there for each other no matter what. They didn’t need to say it anymore, all they needed to do was look at each other. That was enough to reassure them that as long as they had each other it would be okay.   
  


20 minutes later.

Desi walked into the lab and placed herself next to Mac and gave Him a kiss on the cheek. This broke their mutual comfortable silence and just made it really awkward. They sat for a couple minutes just thinking of what to say until Desi finally built up the courage to say something.  
“So what you building there Mac?” Mac looked at her with a forced smile but realised he couldn’t just ignore her he had to answer.

“Just fixing the old clock, it wasn’t working for ages I thought it was about time I fixed it” he turned away to look back at his project and desi spoke again.

“ohhh so that’s why it’s always 1:30 am, I knew there was something up with that clock.” Riley had had enough of their awkward chit chat and decided it might be best if she left them both alone. She didn’t want to get in the way of them since things had been going pretty well between them, they were going on dates, arguing less and Mac met Desi’s parents. Mac had told her that they are much better now they are honest with each other. She was happy that he was happy but it didn’t mean it didn’t make her feel like a thousand knives were stabbing her heart each time she saw them together.

She was getting over it. Well that’s what she told herself.   
  


“I’m going to go off to get a coffee I will see you guys later” she quickly grabbed her gear and waved goodbye to the happy couple. The Phoenix was quiet at this time of night most people had gone home or were working silently in the offices. She walked down the corridor making tapping sounds as she stepped with her slightly heeled boots and passed the war room.   
The windows were fogged. Who would be in there at this time of night and what would be be about? Surely it was Matty and Russ right? But about what?   
  
Riley was now really curious. She slowed her walking almost as if she was trying to look through the frosted glass, even though it was made to purposely block anyone from eves dropping, she couldn’t help it. She knew there was something going on but still didn’t know what, and was planning on finding out. If anyone could it would be her.

She grabbed her laptop out of its case and sat on the metal stairs near the war room. They were freezing and it made Riley even more uneasy than she already was before. She started typing as fast as her fingers could and tried hacking into their phones to try use the microphone to hear them, it took her nearly 2 minutes then she whispered “Yes!”

Then she heard the war room door open.

”I agree Matilda” Russ said with a face of defeat while walking out the war room, Matty closely trailing behind him.

  
Riley abruptly packed away all her stuff like she was hiding her phone from a teacher. Russ saw through her and noticed how guilty she looked but he just overlooked it and walked away to the exit to get into his fancy expensive car that one named ‘Thomas’.

_No one was really sure why it was called Thomas but to avoid a long and tedious story explaining it decided it was best not to ask.  
  
_

Matty looked her in the eye looking worried and concerned “Ah Riley just the person I needed” she signalled for Riley to follow her into the war room and Riley did as she was told. She had no idea what this was about and Matty seemed like whatever she had to say it wasn’t going to be good news. Matty tapped on the windows frosting the glass and motioned for Riley to sit on one of the chairs. By now she knew it was a important conversation.

Riley sat down and Matty turned the screen on the wall off and came close to the chair Riley was sat on.

“What is going on?” Riley blurted out in frustration, Matty moved closer to her like she was about to comfort Riley.

”We have a proposal for you. You don’t have to take it if you don’t want to. I know it is a big job to ask of you but you know I wouldn’t be asking you this if I had any other choice.” Matty took a deep breath and noticed Riley’s face of confusion.

”We want you to go undercover for codex. Like I said this is a big deal and could take a couple months maybe even longer. You don’t have to take it Riley you know I can’t force you to.” Matty was so defeated that it had come to this, she was risking one of her best agents lives.

”And what happens if I don’t” Riley hopes there was a plan B but by the look on Matty’s face she could tell that there wasn’t.

”We don’t know what we will do if you don’t, possibly give it to another government agency to deal with” 

“Give the job to the people that made this mess in the first place? How can we trust them?! Is there really no other option?” 

”This was the last resort and trust me I don’t want to do this, a part of me wants you to say no, but I figured you wouldn’t like our ‘plan B’ of giving the job to another agency” Matty looked as though one wrong word could make her tear up. She lost Jack and now she could was afraid she could lose Riley too

”What about the rest of the team?” _What she really meant was what about Mac._

”its solo, just you. The Phoenix tech team made a fake sceptre that is a perfect replica of the original the only difference is one has a camera, GPS and a microphone all of which are undetectable. It holds all the codex information that has been made over centuries and I’m pretty sure they would like it back.”

”So we are going to give it to them? The thing that basically runs the whole organisation and we are just going to hand it to them?” Riley looked more and more confused and scared after everything Matty said.

“You are going to go undercover with the sceptre and pretend like you are on their side and give it to them, they have no leader and no money so they won’t be planning any major attacks anytime soon. This gives you some time to build a relationship with Leland (he is codex basically) and then...” 

_Matty paused and took a breath as if she couldn’t believe what she was about to say, this isn’t what she signed up for. She didn’t want to tell her to do this they were meant to be the good guys._

”You have to kill him.” 

_Riley sat in shock not knowing what to do and then realised what this all meant._

”What if they don’t let me in” Riley was desperately trying to keep herself together.

”The sceptre has been recoded to only let you in so they have to keep you alive if they want to use it” Matty paused “if you need a couple days to think about it then that’s okay. When you decide you know who to come to.”   
  


“Can I tell Mac?”

”Riley I know you want to tell him because you trust each other with everything but if you tell him he will come after you. We can’t risk both of you” Riley knew she was right and that it would drive Mac crazy if he knew so maybe as much as she wanted to tell him maybe this was a time where what he didn’t know can’t hurt him. She could tell that Matty was looking hurt by what she was proposing to her so she decided to tell Matty she was going to sleep on it and tell her when she had made her decision.

_Matty walked outside and finally let a tear drop down her face. Jack would not approve of what she was doing and she knew that but she also knew that she had no other option_

Riley was the only option. They wouldn’t trust Mac because he went in before and it didn’t end well, Desi didn’t have a skill they needed, Bozer was the least trained out of all of them and didn’t have the skills needed to pull this op off. So that left Riley, her hacking skills where useful and she was very talented at her work. She also was the one they would believe most.  
  


Riley needed to go home and saw that everyone else had left including Mac. She got into her GTO and drove to her new apartment preparing herself for the annoying racket that came from next door. 

**-Rileys apartment-**

_Riley chucked all her stuff on the sofa and quickly got changed into comfy clothes so she could fall asleep in them._

It felt like the world was spinning round her, like she was going to collapse. She face planted onto her bed and screamed into her pillow like she used to when she was a child hoping it would make her feel better. It didn’t. 

Maybe she just needed sleep. She got into bed and turned the lights off trying to forget everything that has happened in the last couple of hours.

Obviously that was impossible and she tossed and turned for hours thinking the same things. Her mind was trying to figure it out like a puzzle but there were no pieces that fit together so it was useless.

After a couple of hours she sat up turned her bedside lamp on and decided to sit and think about it, it only confused her more. At least she wasn’t trying to block out the thoughts anymore.

What was she going to do? The world depended on her if she didn’t go in then who knows who could end up taking the job instead of her. She knew Matty didn’t want to do this but knew Matty well enough to know that she always took calculated risks and this was one of them, this might of been out of Matty’s comfort zone when it came to risks but she was a woman who would always do what was best even if it didn’t feel like it. That wasn’t the problem, the problem was Mac.

She promised Mac that she would always be there for him and Jack did the same thing and it wrecked her knowing that he broke the promise. How could she do the same to Mac? What if she didn’t come back and broke the promise. He wouldn’t trust her again. She couldn’t do that to someone.   
  


Especially not to Angus Macgyver...


	2. Break a heart to save it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley knows she needs to make her big decision to take the job or not. She has to risk everything if she does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one should hopefully have less mistakes. 
> 
> I really felt like Riley had been abandoned as a character so I based this story around her to give her some of the spotlight. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy <3

Riley woke up from her very short sleep which seemed to feel more like a nap that she took in a uncomfortable seat. Her whole body felt drained like she couldn’t even get up and brush her teeth, not to mention the awful headache she had. But after a couple groans into her mattress she finally found the energy to stand up. Then she remembered what happened yesterday, at first she thought it was a dream. After standing staring at her wall the shock that it was real came back to her making her stomach drop.   
She had to make the decision. It felt like the world was relying on her and in a way they actually were. She knew if she didn’t go then codex would be back again in no time. If she did then she might never come back at all.   
  


She figured it was best to just get ready and deal with it at work. She always got her best thinking time while she was alone in the lab anyways.

**-The Phoenix-**

Riley drove into the Phoenix car park and walked inside the big glass doors, on the other side there was a blonde man with a brown leather jacket and a buttoned up shirt. Mac.

Riley smiled at the sight of him. No matter how broken she felt Mac being there would make her feel like she could get through it. They were there for each other, they always had been. They made a promise always that they would always be there for each other to talk about anything. When they felt like they were alone they knew they always had each other. 

She needed to stop observing him before he realised she was staring so she walked into the Phoenix and pretended like everything was okay. Which it definitely wasn’t.

”Hey did you get to finish that thing Russ wanted you to do?” 

_Riley looked at him in confusion as if to say ‘what thing?’ Until she realised what ‘thing’ he was talking about._

”OH SHIT! that thing! I forgot I got completely sidetracked. He’s going to be so annoyed” She tried to figure out a excuse to Russ as to why she couldn’t do the security system but later realised that he knew what Matty told her so would probably understand.

”side tracked doing what? Last time I saw you were doing it in the lab?” Mac saw her face move down like she was avoiding eye contact. 

“Oh I was doing it and then.. Umm I drank too much coffee and couldn’t focus” Riley hoped he was buying her excuse.   
  


Riley hated lying to Mac. she felt so guilty and like she had betrayed him even if it was over something small. This wasn’t small though she had no idea how she was going to keep this from him if she decided to take the job offer. 

“Ah okay the caffeine hit hard” Mac thankfully bought it but he knew something was up with her. He decided that maybe it was best to leave it. If she had anything going on she would tell him right? 

Riley just nodded and she walked through into the War room seeing Desi and Boze already standing waiting for the others to join. Matty walked to the front and stood staring at them portraying her authority. 

“Okay today I have the usual routine for you all to do. Mac I need you to fill in the mission report from yesterday’s mission, Desi I need you to help translate the files with our tech team so we can get the best translation possible, Boze I have some work for you to do with me and Riley still needs to finish the Phoenix security.”

Riley’s face dropped, she thought she would be able to go on the field to have something to keep her mind off of everything that had been going on. Instead she had to sit alone in her own puddle of thoughts and figure this out alone.

They all understood their jobs and went to work doing their designated tasks. Riley walked off into the Lab by herself and placed all her gear on her favourite space to work on (the corner spot). She got comfortable on the steel stool that she dragged from one of the main tables and got on with her work.

Her mind felt cloudy like she can’t think straight everything was just muddling into a big mess of options. Riley knew she needed to make a decision and she needed to make one soon. She pushed away all her messed up thoughts and tried to get the security work done at least it meant she could sit and relax for a bit once she was finished doing this tedious task.   
  


**-The war room-**

Mac was sat comfortably in one of the leather chairs with a large pile of papers on his lap and ink smudged all over his hands from trying to break his pen and put it back together to keep his mind busy. Usually he would fiddle with a few paper clips and leave his wired metal art all over the desks and seats. Then for someone to later sit on it, poke their leg with it and shout at Mac for leaving it in such a stupid place. But for some reason he couldn’t think of enough imagination to make a shape. The shapes he made depended on the mission or how he was feeling on that particular day. Matty often used them to see how he was feeling because his paper clips usually told her more than Mac ever did about his emotional state. Today he didn’t feel anything. Nothing good, nothing bad, it was just a day. So he resided to breaking his pen and putting it back together over and over again. Every time he removed one of the pieces it made a loud high pitched squeak which made Bozer squint and look at him in disgust from across the room but he decided to continue anyways.

He was filling out the boring paper work that he had been doing for a couple hours now. Each page seemed to feel longer and longer each time but he knew it was necessary. At least he couldn’t die doing paperwork right? 

To make it more interesting him and bozer had turned some of the junk paper into paper aeroplanes while Matty left the room to check things. But then Mac started talking about the terminal velocity of the paper plane and he could tell Bozer was getting bored so decided to call it quits with the planes and put them in the bin before Matty came in. 

Mac thought about earlier and how strange Riley was acting. Maybe he should ask her if everything is okay? She would do the same with him.  
He decided that after he finished the paper work he was going to find Riley and ask her what was going on, maybe that was what made his mind blank. 

It was like they had some sort of connection between them running like invisible wires between each other’s head passing information. They knew when one of them was not okay even from across the room. Mac was sure something was up but he still might of been wrong. There was no harm in asking her though.   
  


**-Later in the lab-**

Riley was now on her third cup of coffee of the day. She was exhausted but she finally had finished the security. She waited to tell Russ because she knew the second she did that another job would be given to her so she took the time she had alone in the lab to think through everything that was going through her head last night. The consequences were clear. She could die and lose everything plain and simple. If she didn’t go then Codex would be back and this time they might not be so lucky. Matty was right there was no other option, the world was counting on her. 

What would she tell Mac? Would she just leave him to sit and guess what happened to her and live with the hope that one day she will walk through his door again. That would break him but not as much as if he thought she was gone forever.

The little bit of hope he would have that she might come back would keep him going. Then one day she can burst through the doors and wrap her arms around him and smell the his scent of aftershave and various metals.   
She couldn’t tell him anything about it. It would hurt both of them like hell if she lied to him so it was best to not say anything at all.

She tried convincing herself that it would be fine because he had Desi now but inside she knew that he was already at breaking point and she didn’t want him to hurt any longer. Her only way out of this was to succeed. It was the only way she could keep her promise to him.

She was always there and if she wasn’t she would always come back to him. Failure wasn’t a option.

She got up out of her chair and packed her things while mentally preparing herself to tell Matty what she had decided. She took a deep breath and walked out the room.   
  


**-Back in the war room-**

Mac had just finished the paper work and went to go see use the bathroom. He didn’t know why he was nervous to talk to Riley, maybe it was because she had been distant lately. Jacks death brought them back together for a bit but after that they just drifted apart again. He couldn’t help but blame himself like he always did and he had thought about what he did wrong but never came to any conclusions. He walked into the bathroom and waved passed bozer who had just been told to help Desi in the tech room.   
  


  
Matty was stood in her normal stance like she was waiting for someone and to her surprise Riley walked in with a blank face. She placed her laptop on the leather chair and sat on the arm to look at her boss.

”I finished the security” Riley tried to avoid contact with Matty because right now she didn’t feel like looking anyone in the eye.

”Well done but that’s not what you came here to talk to me about is it Miss Davis.”   
Matty knew what was coming.

”I have decided to take the job.. I don’t want anyone to know anything about it. No excuses telling them I’m on holiday or that I have died. The lies will just make it hurt more when I come back. If... I come back.” Riley couldn't believe she was going to do this. It was like Jack all over again but this time they weren’t even going to know where she went.

”I understand and I will make sure those arrangements are in place for you.” 

_Matty moved closer to Riley, put her hand on hers and looked her in the eye.  
_

”You better come back Riley. Failure isn’t a option. We are a family.” Matty tried the best she could to smile and look happy but inside they both know that she wasn’t.

“I can do this. It’s just a really long op. Alone.” Now she was scaring herself.

”You can do this. You will leave in a weeks time giving you enough time to do secret goodbyes and spend the time with your loved ones. I will make the work for all of you minimal so you can enjoy your last week.”   
  


They both looked at each other trying to hold on tears. Riley nodded to assure Matty she understood what this week entailed. She got up from her seat knowing if she sat there any longer that she would break down and she knew it was just Matty but she also could tell that it wouldn’t just be her that would end up in tears.

Riley walked out the war room leaving Matty in there to finish the work she still had left on the table.

”Hey Riles” Mac gently grabbed her arm to give her a sense of reassurance. Now was not the time for Mac to ‘Riles’ her what she needed was to go home and have a cry. For the first time ever Mac was the last person she wanted to see. She was keeping everything from him and couldn’t bear to stand and lie to him.

”Hey Mac, I finally finished the security. Did you finish the mission report?” She tried her best to keep herself together and not look at him because if she did that would be the end of her.

”Yes I did I finished them a couple minutes ago then went looking for you. I couldn’t find you anywhere. Also I wanted to speak to you, don’t worry it’s nothing serious.” Riley’s face went bright red in fear that he could actually read her mind and know everything that was going on inside it.

”umm okay what about?”

”You seemed a little off earlier I just wanted to check if you were okay.”   
Riley breathed in relief but then realised she had to actually think of a answer to Mac’s question without telling him that in a week time he might never see him again.

”I told you it was the coffee, it also kept me up all night I barley slept. I’m okay, just a little tired.” Half of that was true she was extremely tired due to her getting little to no sleep last night. The lie was that she was okay because she knew she definitely wasn’t.

”You know I’m always here Riles, I know I sometimes get in my head about stuff sometimes but trust me no matter when you need me even if it’s at 3:00 am.. I will be here.” Riley was holding in her tears, if she didn’t then the room would start flooding as he speaks.

Riley smiled back to convey to him that she understood his message. She couldn’t say anything or else she would end up telling him everything so she just walked away to the Phoenix car park.

Mac stared at her as she walked away smiling at her even though he knew she couldn’t see. He didn’t know what he would do without her. Yet did he know that he would find out soon.

Riley got out of her car and got the keys to her apartment door. She got inside closed the door and fell down to her knees with her back to the door and cried. It felt like her world was falling apart and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She needed Mac but at the same time she knew if he was there it would just make leaving him even harder.

She picked herself up off the floor and grabbed a bottle of alcohol from her cupboard to try and take away her pain. She knew she couldn’t get drunk because if she did she risked telling Mac everything through a drunk phone call. So she decided to just take one shot and leave it at that.

After a while of crying to various different sad songs, she went to bed. The alcohol made her sleep faster some how and she fell asleep after a couple hours of trying to relive every moment of the day.

Her decision had been made. She knew that to make sure Mac didn’t do something stupid and get him killed she couldn’t tell him anything. It would break him when he found out but if it meant making sure he was alive she would do anything. 

To save his heart she had to break it. 


	3. Saying goodbye.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley has to spend her last week with everyone till she left to join codex. 
> 
> Who knows if she will even come back...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments I really appreciate it even if it’s just a couple.  
> This chapter was so hard to write but it’s nice to know that people are enjoying this (:

**\- 7 days left -**

  
Riley _had a week till she had to go undercover for codex. She was planning on spending the week with the people she loved most but the thought of this week being over was haunting her every thought.  
_

Riley woke up from the decent sleep she managed to get. Part of her was quite proud of herself for getting in more than 4 hours of sleep. She rolled over to check her phone to see when Matty wanted her in. It was Saturday, she jumped out of bed in excitement remembering it was her day off. The first day off the team had had in ages, Codex definitely kept them busy. Maybe a little too busy.

She walked over to her laptop where she made a plan of her week on her notes, she wasn’t usually the type to plan everything but she was scared she wasn’t going to fit everything in and then regret not doing it later. So she made a brief planner to make sure she covered everything this week. 

_Riley got changed and put on some black skinny jeans, her favourite red leather jacket and one of jacks old Metallica shirts._

She looked at the clock on her wall. Mac made it for her as a Christmas gift a couple years ago, each number had a paper clip underneath it shaped into odd different things. Her favourite had always been the rocket ship under the number twelve. It looked the most detailed out of all of them, she had no idea how he managed to make them into some intercut designs but that made her love them even more. She smiled remembering the day he gave it to her. He stood waiting to see her face when she saw it, he tried to hide his excitement but Riley saw right through it. It only made her love him even more.

Then she remembered why she looked at it. Time was ticking she only had 7 days left now. She wanted it to last forever.

Riley quickly looked away from the clock before she started to relive last night again. She needed to get out the house and that’s what she was going to do. She grabbed her fanciest boots and walked out the door to go see Desi.

Desi actually quite liked Riley she thought that she was a badass. Recently Desi admitted that Riley was the queen of all the video games they tried to play, which was a big deal hearing Desi admit her defeat. Even-though in most competitive games Riley was undefeated anyway.   
  
No one admitted it but Desi was pretty bad at games. It was just that no one had the guts to tell her in fear of her accidentally breaking one of their ribs, probably by one of her abnormally hard joke slaps.

Riley and Desi had their fare share of disputes but they decided to put that in the past. Even if it meant Desi losing a pair of bikini bottoms to a mud bath.

After a great deal of convincing Riley managed to get Desi to come with her again to the spa but this time NO MUD BATHS. 

_Desi couldn’t lie though, it did make her skin feel like silk._

Nevertheless they knew a break was needed. They had been working 7 days a week and sleeping became a luxury. Riley loved her job and was so thankful she was given the opportunity to do it but it definitely didn’t come without its downsides.

**-The spa-**

“I don’t think I have ever felt so relaxed in my life” Riley said in glee of how good she felt. It was a nice break from having her thoughts running around in her head causing chaos.

”tell me about it, maybe it’s the oils?” Desi surprisingly was enjoying her stay, either that or was pulling a very convincing case that she did.

_The two masseuse came in and rubbed oil on both of their backs._

Desi now looked like she was about to drool on the floor so Riley gathered that she was enjoying it and so was she. 

1 hour later...

”I feel so stretched, like I could join a gymnastics team and backflip off something.” Riley said while she was wiggling around her whole body to feel how much better she felt.

”It’s a nice break from all that kicking ass” Desi replied then started laughing and Riley joined in soon after.

”Thanks for bringing me with you, maybe the spa isn’t so bad after all” Desi looked at the ground like she was embarrassed by admitting she was wrong.

”I told you they aren’t that bad and no problem. It’s good to have a spa day with a friend once in a while.” Riley was happy that her and Desi were good again. she didn’t like working with people she wasn’t friends with so it cleared he air a little bit.

”Yeah we should do it again sometime.” 

“Definitely.” Then Riley remembered she might not be here for a next time but that wasn’t what she wanted to think about. Not here, not now. She needed to enjoy this week not hate it because of her own distracting thoughts.

They both walked separate ways into their own cars. They sincerely waved at each other and got in. Desi drove of first because Riley was busy picking one of Jacks tapes to play while she drove home. It wasn’t a long drive but she felt like having some car karaoke anyway. 

Riley got back home, placed her keys on the kitchen island and sank her body into the sofa like it was eating her up whole. She had work in a couple hours but hopefully it would just be small jobs that can help pass time. 

_Her body was perfectly in the nook of the sofa between the two cushions but then she heard a knock at the door._

She walked up to her door and opened it to see Bozer standing on her welcome mat.

”Hey! I thought I would drop by and deliver you the hard drive. I figured you might want to go through it before we got to work so you can get it done earlier. The team had the bits you needed translated so all that’s left is for you to go through it and find us the bits we need. You know, the usual.” He passed her the important hard drive.

Riley was thankful Bozer dropped by it gave her something to think about. She gave him a big smile then motioned for him to come in.

”Thanks Boze, you’re a life saver” she chuckled. 

She thought about grabbing them beers but maybe it wasn’t the best idea if they went to work tipsy. Matty would not approve. So instead she found some bottled water in her fridge and decided to have one each.

Bozer sat on the sofa avoiding the crevice she made, knowing that’s where she planned to sit when she came back. She sat to join him and sat in her debt then passed him the water bottle as it was freezing her hand.

Bozer took a large sip of the water then put it on a coaster placed the coffee table. He looked Riley dead in the eyes and she could tell he was going to say something.

”Are you okay? You just seem a little off lately?” He looked genuinely concerned for her.

”I’m fine, I have just been tired. I’m using this week to decompress” Was it really that obvious? She sat thinking about what made her so transparent to see if she could stop. Then she realised it wasn’t that she was bad at hiding secrets. It’s just they were her friends they knew best how to read her and she didn’t want to have to keep secrets from them at all. She had no choice of the matter and just had to lie to Bozer to keep him from asking more questions. She felt great-full that they all cared so much but she wasn’t so great-full that she had to lie to their faces.

Bozer didn’t look convinced but decided to just leave it for now. He got up and Riley followed behind him as he made his way to the door of her apartment.

”See you in two hours lil sis” he laughed and saw her face scrunch up trying to stop herself from smiling. 

“keep believing Boze! Bye!”

He left and she closed the door behind him. She looked down at the coffee table, saw the hard drive and decided to go through it early to pass the time instead of waiting around to go to work and do the thing she could of started at home.   
  


Two hours later she got up, grabbed her gear with the hard drive plugged into one of the many things attached to her laptop and after putting her black boots on walked out her place again to go to the Phoenix. 

She was half way through going through the hard drive already, sat in her usual corner in the lab. when she was finished she would go home and take a well deserved sleep, That was for later, right now what she needed another coffee.

Three hours later and it was finally finished. She managed to avoid all socialising making the task she was doing feel lonely and even more monotonous than it already was but she was done with it. 

Riley walked down the corridor hoping to spot Matty to give her the files from the hard drive and thankfully she did. Matty thanked her and gave her permission to go home.

Riley got back and got changed as fast as she could and passed out the second she hit her bed. Finally a good nights sleep.

**\- 4 days left -**

The past two days no one really did much aside from Bozer who managed to program sparky to dance. Mac found out when he saw Bozer and the robot doing the Macarena together. Obviously he joined in.

The number of days Riley had left were getting smaller and smaller. she knew she couldn’t let it get to her or else it could distract her when she actually goes on the mission. She needed to have a fresh mind when she went there or else one little mistake could have her killed.

Today Riley planned on spending the day with Bozer. She hadn’t had a good quality day with her little brother in a while and thought it was about time she did.

_Riley still insisted that she would be the older sibling of the two but Bozer was adamant he was the older one two. After many debates on the subject they concluded that the only solution was to agree to disagree. So that’s what the did._

Riley was sat driving in her GTO to Bozers apartment. She didn’t really feel like listening to music so she just settled on listening to the sound of the car engine. Her hair was blowing in all different directions, Riley couldn’t wait to see the mess it was when she looked in the mirror. She realised what a mistake it was to spend time on doing her hair as all the effort had been put to waste due to the wind blowing in her face.

She pulled up at Bozers place and stopped to check her hair in the car mirrors. To her surprise it actually looked okay.

”RILEY! Up here!” Bozers face was poked out of his open window and his hand was waving aggressively at her. Riley just laughed.

”I’m coming calm down!” She shouted to make sure he could hear her.

Riley walked up to his apartment to see Bozer standing outside his door with two glasses balanced in one hand and a Xbox controller in the other.

”drinks m’lady?” Bozer wiggled his eyebrows to try and make himself look classy but miserably failed.

”Ooo yes please what’s my options?” Riley scanned the room to see what alcohol Bozer had to offer. On the table were two bottles of wine both of which she had never seen before, some whiskey and a couple beers. 

”I fancy being classy so some white wine would be great” Something felt weird about having a beer at Bozers, it was a stupid reason but she always had it at Macs so it felt odd asking for a beer here. So she opted for the wine.

Bozer grabbed one of his wine glasses from the cupboard, poured the Pinot Grigio into the glass and passed it over to Riley. Bozer just felt like having a beer so he grabbed one of the cold ones from the fridge and popped off the lid.

”What game am I going to beat you at today?” She gave him a cheeky grin and placed herself on the sofa facing the tv.

”listen don’t get too big headed, I have been practicing my Mario kart skills recently and maybe I might even be the first to beat you.” Bozer regretted saying that because he knew that she would still probably wreck him at Mario kart and it would make him look dumb for thinking he even had a chance at beating her.

”My title as the queen of Mario kart will never be taken away from me, I own the crown” she said while acting like she was placing a crown on her head.

”We will see about that!” 

They both laughed and grabbed some chips from the packet on the coffee table. 

  
After many chips, a few beers and way too many games of Mario kart Riley thought it was about time she went home. She still beat him every time but he did come close one time, Bozer wasn’t planning on letting her forget the time he ALMOST beat her. 

Riley got up, put her glass on the counter and walked up to the door. Bozer shortly after followed her.

”Thanks for having me round it was nice to spend a day with my little brother” She smiled cheekily knowing her saying ‘little’ would start a small feud.

”You mean big brother.” Bozer corrected her.

”No I meant little, but that doesn’t matter. It was really nice having a break and spending time together again. We have all been so busy we forgot what it was like to have fun.”

”Yeah it was a nice break from all the codex stuff.” Bozer sighed remembering that codex are still out there and they would probably have to deal with them in a couple months again.

They both hugged and Bozer waved Riley goodbye. Riley didn’t know what she was going to do without her friends. Her family. They meant everything to her but she was coming to terms with the fact that she needed to do what had to be done to keep them safe in the long run. Mac couldn’t deal with another wave of codex and she was starting to feel like Bozer wouldn’t either. She needed to do this, for them.

She got back into her car and drove back home in silence again listening to only the sounds of the outside world. Driving around had become one of her favourite things. It was one of the few times she managed to get some peace and quiet. From the sounds of her noisy neighbours, sparky trying to make a joke because he was bored and Mac screwing metal bolts into random objects he found to fix. 

_actually she didn’t mind that sound_

When she was driving she actually got some peace and quiet so she savoured every minute of it. Her hair blew in the wind again and she didn’t want to go home yet so she took a route that passed through some trees and a large grass field.

The field was covered in yellow flowers and the sun was setting perfectly on them. She safely parked the car on the side of the road and walked outside to see the view. Man did she wish mac was here to see this. He would probably go on some nerdy rant about what the sun is made up of and what would happen if you went near it. Listening to him talk about that stuff calmed her and it was usually quite interesting, it’s just no one ever bothered to listen because sometimes it ended up too confusing. 

The sight was beautiful, she was so thankful she made a detour to see this at such a perfect time. The sky was painted with vibrant shades of orange and pink with hints of purple near the clouds. The colours of the mystic sky matched the flowers perfectly like they were there to be be painted into art.

She picked a couple flowers and took some pictures on her phone to send to Bozer.

The sun finally set and the field was now covered in darkness and patterns of stars. Her eyes were always drawn to Orion’s Belt maybe because it was Macs favourite, he always spoke about it the most. How it was the one he always used to use his telescope to see when he was a child. She missed Macs constant nerdy babble. She knew it was partially her fault that she didn’t hear it as much. She distanced herself ever since she moved out to stop herself from getting in the way of Mac and Desi. That and she couldn’t take watching them be a couple anymore, it hurt her heart too much but she still really missed him. They were best friends after all.

Riley decided it was time to go home and she got back into her GTO, this time with some music as she needed something to block out her thoughts or else they would drive her insane.

When she got back she ordered some Chinese food then got into bed. She finished the food and placed it on the table near her bed as she couldn’t be bothered to put it in the bin. She laid on her bed warm in her covers and got out her phone.

She clicked on the photos app and scrolled up to find all the pictures of her, Bozer, Mac and Jack. She missed Jack so much and soon she would miss Mac and Bozer too. She saw a picture of Mac playing skee ball looking really confident and the next picture shows him looking disappointed because he lost. Mac still never believed Riley’s ‘it’s all in the wrist’ theory but she seemed to always win due to years of practice so he couldn’t fault her theory.

She eventually put her phone down and went to sleep. Now she had even less time left.   
  


**\- 2 days left -**

Riley had the next two days off. Her days at work were done until she had to leave. Yesterday they tried teaching Sparky the Cha Cha Slide but it didn’t work too well. Riley felt like this week had gone by faster than any other week in her life, it’s like the world wanted her fun to end.

While she was at home yesterday she wrote a letter to Mac, she probably wasn’t going to ever give it to him but if she died he needed to know how much she cared about him. She knew she couldn’t actually bring herself to give it to him so she decided for now just to keep it to herself as a reminder of how much she needed him in her life. Maybe he might see it but that was for her to figure out later.

The whole team decided to a meal together, this was a very rare occurrence. Boze had wondered why they went on no missions this week but just figured it was Matty’s way of giving them a week off after all the hard work they had been doing. They all knew they deserved it, they loved their jobs but all knew it was far from easy.

Bozer had slaved all day in the kitchen making a feast big enough for a entire hall of people. There would be a whole lot of left overs for them to eat. Riley got out Macs nice plates from the kitchen cupboard and started laying the table leaving a large amount of space in the middle for Bozers many dishes.

Mac got the knifes and forks out and saw Matty standing leaning against the edge of the island countertop. She looked worried about something. Mac didn’t like to pry but he felt like it was his duty to make sure his family were okay.

Mac placed the forks and then walked over to Matty.

”You okay?” Mac gave a concerned look.

”I’m fine blondie, just been a rough couple of months.” Matty looked at the floor trying to hide her pain from Mac. He had been through so much she didn’t want to put more on him.

”Matty, we are a family. Whatever we go through, we go through it together. We are a team.” Mac gave her a reassuring smile.

”Thanks Mac. Don’t you have jobs to do Goldilocks? Like finish doing the table?” She playfully tapped him on the arm and Mac went to finish doing the table.   
  


_The buffet looked like it came from a Michelin star restaurant. Each course was delicious making them want more and more, but how would they fit in dessert?_

Once they finished they moved onto the edges of the fire pit and drank beers under the moon light. They were sat talking about all the funny things that had happened on past missions. 

“Do you remember when you and Jack dressed up as santa and a reindeer in a evevator, a kid saw the person inside the bag moving. I think I was watching the cameras at the time” Bozer choked on his beer because he was laughing. 

“The mom looked terrified, she ran out as fast as she could. I do think I made a pretty good santa though.” Mac remembered how uncomfortable that costume was.

Riley was going to miss this. Her time left was getting smaller. She knew she was going to miss her apartment, her bed, Bozers incredible food and maybe even sparky but what she was going to miss the most was this. Her family.

Mac noticed how Riley had suddenly gone from laughing to looking deeply into the LA city skyline so he gently approached her and sat next to her.

”Hey Riles, how about some pizza and skee ball tomorrow. You can show me technique since it’s apparently all in the wrist.” Mac didn’t know what was wrong with her but maybe a day out together would help them reconnect, he noticed that she had been distant recently.

”If it was just physics then how comes I beat you? It’s obviously in the wrists.” Riley paused “yes, skee ball sounds like a good idea to me” She knew that tomorrow was her last day and leaving Mac was going to be even more difficult now.

”It is just physics but I have to admit practice comes into play too. You had a lot more practice than me. Maybe you can teach me?”

“I would love to.” Riley quietly chuckled. 

Mac smiled gently at her, he didn’t know what was on going with her but the best he could do was reassure her that he was always there. Well he thought he would be.

Mac being Mac still thought he had done something wrong to make Riley distance herself. He always blamed himself but he didn’t know what he did this time or even if he did anything. Whatever it was he wanted to fix it, Riley meant to the world to him and he couldn’t lose her. Losing Jack made him feel like he lost a part of his heart, he had lost so many people and the thought of losing Riley too makes him wonder if he would even be able to cope without her. He had Desi but it wasn’t the same as what Him and Riley had. They understood each other even if they didn’t speak to each other. Mac felt like sometimes he took advantage of Riley, he had so many problems and every time, she was there for him. That’s why he started bottling everything up, the last thing he wanted to do was make Riley carry all his sadness for him.

They slowly went home one by one leaving Mac and Riley to tidy up the bottles and mess.

”You don’t have to help, I can clear it up, go home and get some sleep. You need to be ready for our game of skee ball.” Mac secretly wanted her to stay but knew she probably was going to go home after he said that.

”It’s fine, you should know by now that we are all used to having no sleep. If I can take down terrorists with less than 7 hours of sleep then I think I can handle a game of skee ball” 

Mac looked at her as if to say ‘are you sure?’

”Mac seriously it’s fine, it’s only a little clearing up and then I will be out of your hair, I promise” She hated the words ‘I promise’ now, knowing she would have to break one in the next couple of days made her feel guilty for promising anything else to him. 

“Okay fine, you don’t have to go either.”

Riley could now tell that Mac actually wanted her to stay but she knew that it would make leaving him harder, every second more she spent with him. She couldn’t help herself, the defeated look on his face comvinced her immediately to stay with him.

“I’m sure I can stay a little while longer." she knew this wasn't going to end well but how could she say no to them baby blues. 

They went back to sit on the deck with the last two beers. At first they sat opposite each other but Mac slid across the deck to sit beside her.

"We haven’t spoken as much lately” Mac looked disappointed at the fact he let them drift apart.

”We have both been busy, neither of us really had time to just talk.” Riley knew that was partially a truth but it wasn’t the main reason they haven’t spoken.

”I guess I should of really put in more effort I was just so in my head to realise what I was doing” Mac being his usual self blaming himself.

”Hey listen it’s not your fault, you have been through so much recently.” Riley knew it was her fault they were distant. She couldn’t sit and watch Desi and Mac, it hurt too much.

”No Riles I should of made more of a effort. It’s just life has been awful” Mac looked so hurt and Riley wish she could just wrap him in her arms and take all his pain away.

”Mac I’m not going to pretend to know what you’ve been through. But you should know, I wish it was me not you.”   
She wanted to be there for him so badly but if she said she was there for him and left the next day, it would not only hurt her but it would break him even more.

”Thanks Riles but I wouldn’t want you to go through this, plus I’m getting better. This week has helped, finally having a break.” 

“That’s good, hopefully soon everything should be back to normal.” What she meant by that was after she came back. If she came back.

”You lost someone important too. You deserve to have us be there for you just like you have always been for me. I couldn’t thank you enough.” Mac looked genuinely thankful for everything she did for him, despite that Riley still felt guilty for not being there for him recently.

”You have been a better friend than anyone could ask for.” Riley smiled then yawned but tried to cover it up so Mac didn’t notice. He did notice.

”Riley go home and get some sleep, it’s getting late and your getting tired.” Mac stood up and put out his hand to help her up.

Riley huffed then grabbed his hand and stood up. She wouldn’t admit it but she really didn’t want to leave. She was happy to just fall asleep on Macs shoulder.

Riley walked to the door and Mac opened his arm to give her a hug. They stood wrapped in each other’s warmth for a while until Riley eventually pulled away.

“Goodnight Mac.” She said quietly as she walked out the door and looked at him.

Mac watched her to make sure she got to her car safely and then closed the door. Something felt different between them. He just overlooked it as them having the first proper ‘talk’ in what felt like ages. Mac was tired too so he got into his boxers and went to bed.

Riley got into her apartment, dropped all her stuff and walked over to her bedroom to get changed. She looked at the clock. It was midnight, she officially only had one day left till she had to leave. If only that day could last forever she thought. She shook her head to get the thought out her head and quickly got changed and into bed. Her mind couldn’t stop thinking about the next day. She was terrified, sad and hurt all at the same time.

She could do this. She knew she couldn’t let Mac down. Failure wasn’t a option.

**\- The last day -**

This was the last day, her final goodbyes. She tried to sleep in as late as possible so she had less time to deal with all the thoughts running around in her head.

Today was skee ball and pizza day. Usually she would be exited to spend a day with Mac eating greasy cheap pizza but knowing that this could be the last time she ever sees him makes it too painful to be exiting.

She got out of bed and made herself a nice breakfast considering it could be the last one she had in a while. Bacon and scrambled eggs were her favourite breakfast so that’s what was on the menu.

She finished her meal and was stuffed, she was worried she would be too full to eat any of her pizza or that she would throw up the meal from the crazy nervous butterflies in her stomach. She couldn’t let that ruin her last day with Mac. The least she could do was pretend she was okay, then it wouldn’t ruin the day for him.

She left the house and drove to the arcade her and Jack used to go when she was a child. She walked past the window to see Mac throwing the balls into the skee ball machine, it look as though he had had some practice. 

“Hey Riles, I have been practicing.” Mac managed to get a ball into the small 500 points hole.

”I can see, Maybe you need to teach me.” She chuckled at him as he gave her the last ball.

_Riley threw it and it landed in the 250 points hole, she was pretty proud of herself._

”Want to get some pizza?” Mac looked at the tables to hint that he was hungry and wanted to eat.

Riley wasn’t hungry but she also couldn’t say no to some greasy pizza. She found a table for two and sat down while Mac got them two giant slices of pizza. Riley took a deep breath trying to process everything. She knew blocking out her thoughts didn’t help her do anything, but she had no more time to actually go through and figure them out since she was leaving the next day. She would stay up and think about it but she needed sleep so she was well rested.

_Mac came over with the pizza, each plate was almost soggy with grease but that’s what made it taste good right?_

”It is funny how there are loads of places you can get amazing pizza and we choose to go here.” Riley said as she remembered when they all sat on a long table eating pizza, the whole big family together.

”Well it is pretty good pizza. It may not be fancy but it is delicious.” Mac knew Jack had pretty weird taste in most things but surprisingly this one he wasn’t wrong about. It was some good sloppy pizza.

They sat in silence slowly devouring their pizza. Then went to play the arcade games. 

After a couple games of intense skee ball and lots of funny chats about work. Mac decided to take her home since she walked there and he didn’t mind taking her back.

They sat in the car in silence, neither of them decided to put music on or start a conversation.

Silence was okay between them, it was somehow never awkward. They just looked at each other and knew it was all going to be okay. Riley noticed the silence and it reminded her of something Mac once said. No one else heard it because Riley was the only one who had her com on but every time she saw Mac she knew he was her person after he said:

’It doesn’t take the whole world. Sometimes you just need that one person you can count on, who you trust. Together any problem can be solved.’

Mac was that one person. She would take his pain from him in a heartbeat. She trusted him with all her heart. But she had to break that trust, lie to him. She couldn’t be his person. Desi had to be, from tomorrow she wasn’t going to be there for him. If she needed him or if he needed her, they wouldn’t have each other anymore.

Mac pulled up outside Riley’s apartment building, they got out the car and Mac walked Riley to her door.

Riley tried to hold in her tears but she couldn’t any longer. A tear dropped down her cheek. Mac saw and immediately looked at her in concern.

”Hey what’s wrong?” He moved himself closer to her.

”It’s nothing.” She couldn’t tell him, she knew she couldn’t.

”It isn’t nothing, you know you can talk to me. Let me be here for you Riles.” He gently wiped the tear of her cheek.

”I guess I just feel bad that I haven’t been there for you. I miss you.” She knew she couldn’t be there for him. She wouldn’t be able to be and she knew she was going to miss him more than anything else in the world. 

Mac pulled her into a hug, she rested her head on his heart and sobbed.

”Riley Davis, You have been there for me no matter what. I don’t know what I would of done without you.” He felt Riley nod her head but let her continue to cry.

”I’m sorry I shouldn’t of brought this up.” She sniffled as she pulled away from the hug and looked up at his eyes.

”Don’t be sorry, I’m glad you brought it up” He tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled.

Riley opened her door and was about to leave when she felt the sudden urge to just give him one more hug. She opened her arms and hugged him, squeezing as tight as she could. Mac squeezed her back and she suddenly felt okay. She knew now that she couldn’t fail. If she did then she wouldn’t ever get this back.

She pulled back the second time and walked into her apartment.

”Goodnight Riles.” Mac under his breath but loud enough so she would hear. He saw her smile and then close the door.

That was it, her final goodbye. Tomorrow she went to join Codex. She didn’t know if she was prepared, if it was even possible to be prepared for something like this. All she could do now was sleep and see what tomorrow brings. 

What she did know is that she couldn’t let Mac down. She needed to be his person just as much as he was hers. 

Failure was not a option. 


	4. The beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley goes off to codex to try and bring a stop to them. She’s risking everything. What is Mac going to say when he can’t find her?
> 
> Hopefully it’s all worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn’t wait to write this chapter so it’s coming out sooner than I expected.  
> Sorry for any mistakes, the last time I wrote a story was for school:)  
> Enjoy Xx

Riley woke up and immediately remembered what day it was. Today was the day she left everything.

She had packed up her essentials in a small bag the other day so all she needed to do was get changed into her comfiest field outfit and try to prepare herself for the day that was about to come. She had her outfit on her desk chair, she was so nervous last night that she started over preparing by doing things like picking her outfit and cutting fruit for her to eat in the morning.

She quickly got ready and went to eat the fruit she prepared for herself at 2 am. Surprisingly after having so little sleep she felt more awake than she had ever felt in her life, it was probably the nerves. This was the first time she had done anything like this, sure she had lead ops and been on a few herself but none of that compared to this.

She finished half of the bowl of fruit and felt the butterflies in her stomach stop her from finishing the rest in case she ended up throwing it up. She figured it was better to have half a meal than none. Her keys were placed on the end of the kitchen island next to her small black travel bag. She grabbed them both and opened the door.

She stood looking at the outdoors knowing she might not see it for a while when she remembered she forgot one thing. The letter.

She ran back into her house and went into the drawers next to her bed to find a letter neatly sealed in a white envelope with the name ‘Angus Macgyver’ neatly written on the front. She grabbed it and held it tightly like it was the last bit of this world she had left. She decided to not take her GTO and to instead take her truck that she rented from the Phoenix. She put her bag in the trunk and the letter in the glove compartment.

The engine started and Riley knew then that this was it. She could do this.

_Riley was a strong woman, not to mention also a genius. If anyone could do this it would be her.  
_

She drove slowly taking in every moment of the world she lived in like it was her last. It could be her last. Eventually she arrived at the tall glass building. The Phoenix foundation.

No one else was at work, Matty gave them a day off so she could debrief Riley without any disturbance from the rest of the team. She was stood in the war room with the windows frosted and completely opaque, she was waiting for Riley Davis.

Riley walked in leaving her bag inside her car knowing that she would use the car to drive to Codex’s location. All she had were her car keys in the pocket of her leather jacket and the letter.

**\- The war room -**

“Hey Matty” Riley stood up strong and portrayed confidence although she was incredibly nervous of letting everyone down.

”Are you ready?” Matty looked scared but kept herself together in case Riley could sense her fear.

”I don’t think I will ever be truly ready but I am as ready as I will ever be.” Riley was telling the truth. She finally felt ready. 

”Okay I will get on with the debrief then.”

Matty walked towards the large screen and tapped on it like she was waking it up. A bunch of technical information about codex and what the mission entails were on the screen.

”Using the information we got from the small USB stick we have pinned down the location of the main codex base. There are smaller groups that are partners with codex but our main priority is the base you are going to today. You have the sceptre which is in the brief case on the table. Your main goal is to eradicate codex with as many survivors as possible, the more we keep alive, the easier it is to stop every branch of codex that exists. Use your hacking skills to your advantage, they need someone like you. Please Riley come back, we can’t lose another..” Matty walked closer to Riley as she said this.

Riley cut her off before she could say anything else. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you down.” Matty smiled at her response but a tear still fell down her face.

”You can do this Riley.” Matty wiped her face and moved back into her serious stance near the screen.

”Hey Matty one more thing.” Riley went over to the table to give Matty her last request.

”Sure what is it?”

”I know it’s going to be hard for Mac, he will have no idea where I am. If it gets too much for him... can you give him this.” Riley passed the letter over to Matty.

”Of course.” Matty took the letter and walked up to Riley again. “The coordinates are on your phone... Good luck.” She smiled and Riley walked out the war room.

The door closed and Matty cried. She said she wouldn’t do this again, let someone in her family go off to risk their lives. After Jack died she said she wouldn’t let anyone else go again. She just did.

After a few minutes of letting her emotions out she grabbed a tissue from the box on the coffee table and composed herself. She knew Riley could do it, she just hoped nothing went wrong.

  
Riley got into her truck with the briefcase and took a deep breath. She checked the coordinates on her phone and put them into her satnav to find the way there. She was ready. It was time to go.

The journey was a long one, it was a seven hour drive but that was if she ran into no traffic so she guessed she would get there around 4 pm which wasn’t too bad at least it would still be day light then.

_The coordinates lead to a large house hidden inside a forest, it was a good place to hide a terrorist bunker. They found a underground section and guessed that it was a bunker of some sorts to use when they attacked._

Riley checked the map and saw there was quite a lot of traffic which meant she would be there just when she expected since she took L.A. traffic into consideration.

She still was somewhat nervous but part of her was exited. She was doing this for the world, for Mac. If she managed to take down Codex then it would all go back to normal. They would no longer have that fear in their minds of Codex coming and making another mess like last time. She needed to get her work brain on and do this, the plan was pretty far fetched but made sense. There was no other way they could stop Codex. Someone needed to go in there and pull it out from the roots, this was the long term solution. They could continue to stop their plans and get lucky each time but they could do that for years and she already knew it was breaking Mac. This was going to be the hardest thing she had even done in her life but if it all worked then it would be worth it. That’s if Mac still trusted her by the time she got back. 

  
6 hours later..

Riley was now starving, she had packed some snacks and decided to park her car on the side of the road and eat. She stopped in the middle of a dry land. She ate the sandwich she carefully made during her nervous midnight spark of productivity. She had also packed some of her favourite ice coffee in a cold thermos.

 _For some reason she felt like she was eating the last supper. The coffee tasted abnormally good maybe because she was incredibly thirsty but she swore it was actually better than normal_.

Soon after she finished her meal she decided to get back on the road and finish the last three hours she had left of the drive. It was two hours longer than it was meant to be but Riley expected that. From now on there was no traffic and little to no cars drove past her. It was the last bits of peace she thought she was going to have for a long while.

Rileys phone buzzed, who could that be? She wasn’t going to pick it up since she was driving but she didn’t see any cars near her so she leaned over to see who it was.... it was Mac.

**\- Macs house -**

Mac woke up later than usual since he had the day off. He couldn’t stop thinking about what happened between him and Riley last night, it reminded him of that time they were in his kitchen in quarantine and they had that ‘moment’ he thought then it was just cabin fever or something like that but maybe it meant more. Mac shook his head to clear his mind and decided the best thing to do was call her. They were best friends maybe if he just heard her voice it might make it make sense.

He grabbed his phone and ran his hands through his blonde hair to push them out his face. Her number was in his contacts but he was proud that her number was the only one he memorised (other than Jacks), if he needed anyone it would be her so he figured her number would be most useful. He wondered why he hadn’t memorised Desi’s number, maybe he just forgot or... he actually didn’t know why he knew Riley’s number and not Desi’s.

He went to call Riley and put it on speakerphone since his arm was too tired to hold his phone up to his ear at this time in the morning. He listened to it dial and waited. No one picked up... 

That wasn’t like Riley. She always picked up. He thought she might of been asleep so he tried dialling her again and to his surprise she again didn’t pick up. Was he ignoring her? Maybe it was because of last night. Mac started thinking of every reason she would have to not pick up his calls. After panicking for a few minutes he decided to see if Bozer knew her whereabouts and thought calling him would be the best option.

He found Bozers name in his contacts and called him, again putting it on speaker phone. This time someone answered.

”Yo! What up Mac?” There was a short silence.

”Have you seen Riley I tried to call her but she’s not answering I thought you might know where she is or why she isn’t picking up.” Bozer could tell how concerned Macs voice sounded.

”No I haven’t heard anything from her, she’s probably just asleep, you know what she’s like.” Bozer tried to sound sympathetic.

”But Riles always picks up the phone she has it on her bedside table surly it would wake her up. What if she’s ignoring me Boze?”

”I think your just scaring yourself, I can try calling her to see if she picks up to me and then I we can see more of what’s going on. I will text you if she replies and if she doesn’t I will call you back. Is that okay?” Bozer tried to reassure him it was okay.

”Okay thanks Bozer.” Mac ended the call and let his head fall back into his pillow.

Bozer called Riley, he was pretty sure she was just asleep so he wasn’t too worried. She did have tendencies of sleeping into the afternoon on her days off.

As he expected she didn’t reply. Mac now didn’t have to worry about her ignoring him. She was more than likely just asleep. He called back Mac and he picked up instantly. 

“She didn’t pick up, she’s probably just asleep. No need to worry Mac.” Bozer knew Mac was worried.

”This doesn’t feel right. She wouldn’t not reply because she is asleep. Like I said she always has her phone near her in case Matty needs us so why would she not have it with her now. I think we should go check on her. It’s better to be safe than sorry.” Mac knew when something was wrong with Riley, it was like he could sense it.

Bozer couldn’t argue with Mac and he knew if he tried that he wouldn’t win anyways. So he decided to go with him to give Riley a visit. Waking her up from her slumber would also be a bonus.

”Okay fine I will come with you, if there is a opportunity to scare Riley and wake her up at the same time then I’m in.” Bozer still just thought Mac was being paranoid but he humoured him.

”Okay I will leave now and pick you up. You better be ready.” Mac ended the call and quickly began to get changed into a pair of trousers and a button up shirt. He also wore his dads jacket since it was slightly chilly outside.

Mac got into his truck and drove off to Bozers place. Mac was coming up with all sorts of messed up conclusions which scared him even more. What if she was kidnapped? What if she was killed in her sleep? What if Codex took her?

He knew he needed to stop thinking of all of these thoughts so it was a good thing he arrived at Bozers and saw him standing outside ready to get into the car.

”Let’s go!” Bozer got into the passenger seat of the car and looked through the glove compartment to see if he could find any music. He needed something to break the silence, he knew that when Mac was nervous he would sit in silence so maybe music would help break the tension.

Before Bozer could find a decent track to play they reached Riley’s apartment building. Mac rushed out and asked Bozer to grab the keys he had to Riley’s place just in case she wasn’t there and they needed to go in. Bozer was confused as to why he had the spare key.

”How comes you have a spare key?” Bozer looked confused as he tried to speed walk to match the speedy pace Mac was walking at.

”When she moved in I asked to have one, you know in case of a emergency. She has one to mine, I have one to hers.” He couldn’t argue with that.

They noticed that Riley’s GTO was there and Bozer felt a sigh of relief.

”Look her car is there, she’s fine.” Bozer could tell Mac still wasn’t convinced.

They got up to Riley’s door and knocked. No one answered. They rang the door bell. No one answered. They knocked as hard as they could. Still no one answered. Now They were panicking.

”Thats it I’m going in.” Mac took the keys and unlocked the door.

Inside was Rileys completely untouched apartment. There wasn’t mess everywhere or chairs thrown upside down. It looked just how it looked when three last visited. But where was she?

“Let’s see if she’s in her bed. She is a deep sleeper.” Bozer was now trying to convince himself was okay but he now realised something wasn’t right.

They walked into her bedroom to see her bed was unmade but with no Riley inside it, she never usually made her bed because she never had time. They decided to look for her laptop or phone to see if maybe she had been kidnapped but they found neither.

”We need to call Matty. This isn’t like Riley. Everything is normal, she can’t of been kidnapped we both know she would of put up a fight and there are no signs anywhere that she did. So where is she? I knew there was something wrong, she always picks up.” Mac was now terrified of what could of happened to her. Bozer could lie, he was now scared too. Mac was right there was something wrong with this.

They called Matty on Macs phone and she answered quickly.

”Is everything okay, or do you want more work since you’re bored on your day off. I have a couple.” Mac cut Matty off before she could finish her sentence

”Riley’s gone, her house is untouched, she isn’t replying to any of our calls and her car is still parked out front. There are no signs of her phone or gear either so obviously she must of taken it somewhere. Is she at work?” Mac’s hands were shaking while holding the phone.

“No she isn’t I can check her location on the Phoenix GPS if you want?” Matty knew where she was but she couldn’t just tell Mac she was okay and she couldn’t tell him that they weren’t going to look for her. Mac wouldn’t give up that easily so she was going to have to pretend that they were looking for her.

”We don’t have her location, she’s turned it off.” Matty tried to sound calm.

”What? Why would she do that? Is there any other ways we can track her?” Mac was getting more and more nervous by the second.

”We can track her by her laptop but that’s not coming up either, she’s covered every track we can use to follow her.” Matty could hear Macs fear.

”I will text Desi, we’re coming.” Mac ended the call and ran to his car signalling for Bozer to come quickly too.

Mac drove faster than he had since he was in his last car chase, he couldn’t lose her. He got to the Phoenix in no time and ran into the war room. Matty looked calm and Mac didn’t like it.

”How can we find her?” Mac blurted put the second he saw Matty.

”Mac I don’t know, she has covered all her tracks. Did she leave anything behind at her apartment?” There wasn’t anything she could do.

”No we did a full sweep and we found nothing at all. Some of her clothes had gone and her rig was no where to be seen. I think wherever she is she planned it.” Mac at least didn’t think she was kidnapped.

”Mac I don’t know what else we can do.”

”You're giving up that easy. This is Riley we are talking about. She’s part of our team. She’s family, you don’t give up on family!” Mac was infuriated but could tell that Matty genuinely had nothing else she could do.

”Riley is one of the best hackers in the world. She’s not going to leave a trace that any of us can find, the only person who could find that trace is her and she’s the one we need to find.” Matty went closer to Mac to try and comfort him.

Mac got up and stormed out, he couldn’t give up this easily he had to find her. He didn’t want to live in a world without Riley Davis.   
  


**\- Finally at the destination -**

Riley arrived after a nine hour drive. She was in the middle of a forest and driving through small twisty turns. She slowed down and remembered what what happened last time she drove into Codex. They tend to get concerned by ‘visitors’.

She saw something move in the grass, she saw the gun, she immediately ducked her head and tried driving with her head down her car tire got busted and she saw them all slowly walk up to the car pointing shot guns at her. She grabbed the brief case and took out the item inside it. Slowly she walked outside the truck seeing ten men surround her with guns. Out of the shadows walked a man she had never seen face to face before. It was Leland.

”What are you doing here Riley Davis? Surly you know that if you came here just to sabotage us that we would just kill you.” He was wearing a long dark coat similar to Murdocs but instead with a green turtle neck underneath.

”You wouldn’t want to put a bullet hole through this would you?” Riley lifted her hands up to surrender but in her hand was the sceptre. The sceptre gave them everything. She was right they would definitely not put a bullet hole through that.

”Is that the sceptre?” Leland looked shocked.

”Yes it is, now will you please take the guns out my face.” Riley knew confidence was key.

”How can I trust you? You lied last time what should make me believe you this time.”

”When I was with Mac I had my loyalties to him. But when I saw codex I realised that maybe you were right. If this world was falling apart I don’t want to go down with it. Plus you need me, Gwen has died and when I visited your tech team I realised that you might need some help.” Riley knew that he had no reason to trust her but that’s what he had to gain with him.   
“It’s just me this time, I covered all our tracks trust me they won’t ever find me. They took the USB and gave it to me to extract the files, it also had your location which I used to find you. The sceptre is stored in a vault underground the Phoenix and no one ever checks on it. It could be months before they notice it’s gone.” Riley hoped he was buying her story.

”How did you get it?” Leland started pacing like he was interrogating her.

”I made the security of that place, I know the passwords to almost everything. Do you want my help or not?”

No one said anything, the guns were all still pointing in her direction. She was stood anxiously waiting for Leland’s reply.

”Drop the guns.” 


	5. The nightmare began.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is set directly after the last one, Riley has just entered codex and Mac has no clue where she has gone.
> 
> Hope you enjoy x

Riley opened her eyes, her face squinted as the bright light from a lamp shined into her eyes. She looked down to see that her hands were tied up to the metal chair. The rope slowly cut into her skin while she fidgeted to get her hands out. She must of been knocked out, she had no idea how she got here or where she was. All she remembered was getting in her car with her rig.

A large man walked out of the darkness that surrounded her, she could only see a faint outline of him but was able to tell that he was wearing a large black coat, tall black boots and a balaclava. He looked muscular and tall, she knew that even Desi would struggle to fight this man.

She started to shake and her breathing became heavy. Who was this man? She was so confused. She tried to see him better by moving her body to the side but every inch she moved made the ropes cut her skin more, each time making her quietly screech. She eventually managed to move her whole body to the side to get a better view of this mysterious man. The light was still in the way of her face she still couldn’t make out anything in front of her apart from the shadows of the man she saw. He didn’t move an inch, it didn’t even look like he was breathing. It was like he wasn’t alive. He just stood there watching her in pain.

He took a step closer to her and Riley began to see him better past the bright light blocking her view. She saw he was holding some sort of large weapon she couldn’t quite make out what it was so she squinted to see if it would help. She still couldn’t figure out what was in his hand but figured whatever it was, it wasn’t going to do her any good.

Was this it? No one else was there, no one else could save her this time.  
He took another step closer.

”Who are you?!” Riley’s voice shivered like she was cold. 

The man said nothing, he took another step closer to Riley. She could finally see what was in his hand. It was a large knife of some sort.

He took another step closer.

Riley saw his large smile, she couldn’t do anything this was it. If only Mac was here he could of figured something out. He always had her back. Until now.

She opened her mouth like she was going to cry for help.

”Mac!.. Please...” 

The room started to shake like there was a earthquake.

”MAC! Please.” her voice sounded desperate.

”Mac!!...”

”She can’t die! I need to be there for Riles... I always am.” Mac opened his eyes realised he was in bed. Desi was sat next to him trying to wake him up. 

“You okay? That sounded like a tough dream. You kept shouting for Riley.” Desi paused. She knew she shouldn’t feel jealous of Mac and Riley’s relationship but part of her still did.

“it took me ages to wake you up.” Desi knew the past few days had been tough for Mac. She tried to understand what was going through his head but gave up after remembering that he probably doesn’t even know what’s going on in there himself.

“Mac you know there isn’t anything we can do, she is gone and all we can do now is hope she comes back sooner or later.” Desi had told Mac this numerous times but he still didn’t seem to take it.

”This isn’t any normal person, this is Riley we can’t just give up on her.” He got up and turned away from Desi when he realised he started crying, she couldn’t see him like this.

Mac got up and went onto the deck to see if he could finish one of his ‘Distraction projects’. Desi tried to talk to him before but she knew that only one person could fix this and that person wasn’t her. It was Riley.

Desi knew Mac needed time to heal and he never let her in to let her try and help. She was worried about Riley too but no where near as much as Mac was. She decided the best thing for her to do was sleep and leave Mac to do his Mac thing. Maybe he would come talk to her another day about it, but not today. 

Mac decided to try improving one of his inventions. His hands were shaking and he tried but couldn’t stop them. He accidentally put one of the parts in incorrectly and broke it.

The pieces scattered across the floor making a loud crash. He couldn’t even do this, he tried convincing himself that there wasn’t anything he could do to help her but he still felt like it was his fault. Maybe he could of asked her to stay round on that night. Maybe he could of said something, done something. He couldn’t help but feel guilty for the fact she’s now gone.

He collapsed on the ground putting his palms on his face and his head resting against his knees. Every time he closed his eyes he would see her. She was so helpless, he knew she was was one of the strongest most badass women he knew but no one could get through everything alone, he tried and it always failed, they needed each other but he wasn’t there for her and now he couldn’t be. He didn’t want to think about what she could be going through now, he couldn’t help it. When he tried to sleep all he saw was her fragile body, alone. 

The pieces of his invention were scattered around him. His whole life felt like it was falling apart, just like what he built. It was broken. He felt broken.

**\- Codex -**

Riley was grabbed by two large muscular men, one of which she recognises. They carried her into this large stone building and brought her downstairs onto a wooden chair. Leland stood in front of her holding the sceptre like he was showing it off.

“If I have this surly I can kill you now?” The man she recognised before picked up his gun and pointed it to her head.

“Hey easy now Roman, who knows what exactly she is here to do. Maybe she might actually come in useful.” Leland signalled with his two fingers for Roman to put down his gun. He eventually after pulling a disappointed face, complied.

”You don’t think I would just give it to you without any reason for me to stay do you? Riley tried to sound confident still and hide the fear rushing around inside her. “To use the sceptre I have to use the retinal scanner I implemented, you need me ALIVE to open it. I also went through all the files so I probably know it’s capabilities more than all of you combined.” She was right, she knew how that thing worked well, using it was basically muscle memory at this point.

”Ah you Phoenix people are rather smart. Well I guess we might have to keep you around longer than expected. I don’t trust you yet Miss Davis I don’t know if I ever will. But we, Codex need all the help we can get. Don’t go too crazy, I’m going to keep an eye on you.” Surprisingly Leland sounded nicer than Riley expected him to be, or he was just trying to sound nice so he could kill her. Either way she was surprised.

They untied her from the chair and Leland pointed at the spectre hinting for her to use it and show them. She used the scanner and out came a hologram of information on codex branches, plans of future attacks, money suppliers and other technical garble.

”The Phoenix didn’t change much apart from add security to get into it, just in case someone like you got their hands on it.” Riley smirked at her own comment.

”Okay well there isn’t much we can do with it right now, we have no money since you lost us our main source of income. We have this bunker but it’s nothing compared to our old one.” Riley was so surprised that Leland was trusting her with all this information considering they had known each other for merely an hour.

”Why are you trusting me?” Riley didn’t understand why he was being so nice, he wanted to kill her before what made him so nice now?

Leland paused and moved his mouth like he was about to say something then decided not to.   
  
“Well you have a skill set we can use, plus you brought us the sceptre. If you are still with the Phoenix then you know the consequences.” Leland looked like missed something out of that on purpose.

_Riley heard that and immediately started shivering internally. She knew she needed to keep it together, fear was no match for Codex._

She carefully was shown into the large bunker. There were shops with food displayed outside, different areas for people to live in and almost what seemed to be a school. It was colder and darker than the last one she went into, maybe it was due to their cuts in costs. There were a few building problems like water leaking from some parts of the ceiling and the floor for some reason didn’t feel steady like the last one.

They quickly pointed her in the direction of the tech team, she saw a long table with computers and laptops laid across it. This also seemed to be smaller than she remembered.

”Welcome to your new life Miss Davis.” Leland smiled and told the rest of the team to show her round.

They seemed nice, she saw a few people she remembered from before but a lot of them seemed to not be as experienced as the ones she saw previously. Although Leland made it clear he wanted the rest of the tactical team to leave her alone one of them insisted on staying, the one she recognised, Roman.

He stood in the corner of the room watching her like a hawk every sudden move she made, he would move his gun as if it were a reflex. Sometimes it even looked like he was checking her out.

Riley was introduced to all of the tech team and shown around all the parts of the bunker. She was shown around to her small room which was actually comfier than she thought it would be. It had a single bed in the corner, a desk and a small wardrobe inside the wall. She unpacked her stuff and made the room look slightly more like somewhere she wouldn’t mind staying. She knew she would be spending the next couple of months here so why not make it look decent. They gave her a small bag of home items like a lamp and some duvet covers she could chose from, she chose some grey ones with a white geometric pattern on them.

After spending a good half an hour decorating her new room she decided she probably should go and get some rest since she hadn’t slept for days. Her journey and her introduction to codex took ages and her little sleep the night before didn’t help either.

She took one of the sleeping pills she brought in her backpack and got into her newly made bed. She tried checking her phone but quickly realised she was in a underground bunker and the likelihood of her getting any signal was tiny. So she rested her head on her pillow and tried getting some shut eye. She almost passed out when she hit the pillow but then her thoughts began.

What about Mac. Had he noticed she was gone yet? If he has then what if he comes looking for her. What if.... 

The sleeping pill worked faster than she expected and her thoughts were cut off by a long and well deserved sleep.

Some time later...

BANG * BANG * BANG * 

Riley jolted up from her bed and looked at her clock, she had been asleep for almost ten hours.

”Come in.” Riley said as she was still half asleep. she also forgot to lock her door last night.

A small ginger girl came in. She was holding a tidy envelope, it was even sealed by a red wax seal with the codex symbol pressed into it

”Leland gave me this to pass onto you. Also are you okay? I do regular checkups on the people here, it’s part of my first aid training.” She smiled and passed the envelope to Riley.

”I’m fine thank you.” Riley smiled back at her and the girl quickly rushed away.

She looked down at the envelope and decided it was best for her to get ready first then open it, and because she was terrified to read it.

She locked her door and hopped into her shower, they for some reason were being really nice to her and gave her a room with an en suite. She tried to wash away all the thoughts of what was written in that letter. Maybe they found out she was a spy and were going to kill her? She knew that was impossible, she took every measure to make sure she would never be caught so she shook her head to clear her mind. After shampoo and conditioner she eventually got out of the shower and dried herself. She had left her outfit on the chair under her desk and quickly got changed. 

She was now finally ready, she had to face whatever was written in that letter. She picked it up and placed it into her lap bracing herself for what was inside.

She carefully removed the wax seal from the envelope and removed the folded piece of paper. She took a deep breath and began reading it. 

Dear Riley Davis,

I am glad you have chosen to come and join the right side. Codex is a well established organisation to make the world a better and healthier place. As you know climate change has had a detrimental effect on our planet, we have tried but people aren’t willing to make a difference. While you are a part of Codex you will realise this. You are now part of the ones who wanted to make a difference.

I believe you can be a great addition to Codex but that doesn’t mean I trust you yet. You have betrayed us before and I have no reason to trust you. I hope that you have decided to join us now for the greater good.

I have decided that I would like to have a meeting with you and a few of the leaders of Codex. If they like you, you may stay. If they don’t...

The meeting will be held on the top floor at 5 pm this evening. Someone should assist you on your way there.

I hope you decide to join us Miss Davis.

From Leland. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the nice comments. I haven’t ever been keen confident enough to write anything so it’s so nice to hear people are enjoying what I have written. 😊


	6. The meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know it doesn’t really make sense anymore because Leland is supposed to be dead but I really wanted to continue this so let’s pretend he’s still alive.  
> Riley has her meeting with the codex leaders and Mac starts to move on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had no idea what to do for this chapter, hope it’s still good. (:

Riley sat at the end of a long table, on this table sat members of codex all of which she had to empress and convince that she had gone rogue to join Codex.

Everyone looked stern and serious especially the woman in the corner. They all wore expensive looking suits and all had fancy briefcases that looked like they were either hiding a load of money or a very dangerous weapon. Leland on the other hand seemed to be calm and confident, he was the main person she knew she had to impress.

They were all served a banquet, there were three courses all of them were delicious but slightly under filling. The dessert was particularly good, it was a coffee and chocolate cheesecake. Riley was never too keen on cheesecake but this one was unlike any she had before.

 _They all finished their meals and sat down to have a discussion, this was the moment Riley had been waiting for_.

“Riley Davis, you have been here before haven’t you?” The middle aged blonde man death stared at her and she had never felt more intimidated in her life.

”Well not this particular bunker, I went to your old one but I was with the Phoenix then.” Riley confidently told the truth.

”How do we know you aren’t with the Phoenix now?” He stood up to intimidate her even more.

”You don’t.” Riley knew this was a risky move but she figured she would try pull it off the best she could.

The woman in the corner gave her a glance and began to speak.   
“Then why should we trust you?”   
A few other people around the room started to nod their heads in agreement, they were right they had no reason to trust her. She betrayed them and was asking for a second chance, Codex was not the type to give a second chance.

”She brought us the sceptre” Leland stood up for her for some odd reason.

”But last time they came they brought us shiva, this is just them doing the same thing again. Bring us something we need so we trust them and they sabotage us. We don’t have the resources to move again, this is our last chance. If she is with them then that’s the end of Codex.” The brunette woman sat back down after her speech.

”We can’t trust her, If there is any chance she is with the Phoenix still we can’t afford to take that risk.” The blonde man said.

The woman stood up to speak, everyone looked at her desperate to bear what she had to say.

”We must kill her.”

**  
-Mac’s house-**

Mac stood outside under the moonlight, he was leaning against the edge of the fence surrounding the deck. Things had been weird since Riley had gone, it had only been a couple of days but it felt like months. Desi kept trying to convince Mac that it would all be okay but he knew how risky it was believing that after he lost Jack. They all decided to have a night where they talk about Riley, all the memories they had together, the laughs and the many times she saved their asses. Mac tried to seem okay but he wasn’t he couldn’t hide it anymore.

”Hey Mac.” Bozer gently rested on the fence next to him.

”Hey.” Mac didn’t really feel like talking but remembered how much Riley meant to Bozer. It wasn’t just him going through the pain. 

”It’s been a pretty shit week hasn’t it.” Bozer let out a deep breath and put on a comforting voice.

”Yeah tell me about it.” Mac tried to force a smile but Bozer could tell it was fake.

”Mac listen I know how much Riley meant to you. To both of us, but we need to move on and trust that whatever she is doing now, she’s doing in her badass way and getting through it. She’s Riley, she can do anything.” Bozer was trying to get Mac to look at him but he didn’t seem up for it.

”I know, I trust her and whatever she is doing...but I just wish she had told me. I thought that if anything happened she would tell me, she always told me that we can talk to each other about anything. Apparently not.” Mac sighed and looked down at the beer bottle in his hands.

”Maybe she wasn’t allowed to tell you, you know what our line of work is like. Secrets all over the place.” Bozer could tell that Mac had another reason for why he thought she didn’t tell him.

”Ever since she went with me to codex she has been distant. It was like we went from one second being all each other had to being like we are just acquaintances. It’s like she doesn’t even care about me anymore. Then she disappears without telling me anything.” Mac still didn’t look up at Bozer.

”Maybe she felt the same way? You both have been distant from each other. Mac she was always there for you remember.”

”I just wish I was there for her too.” He finally looked up at Boze when he said this. His face looked weak and desperate. He missed her so much.

”I’m sure if you could be there for her now that you would be.”

”But it’s too late now, she is gone. Who knows what’s happened to her she could even be dead!” Mac shouted this out but then quickly realised what he had said.   
“I’m sorry Boze I shouldn’t of said that, I just miss her being around. I just wish I could of been there for her, I made the same mistake with Jack.” Mac tried to hold tears in. He knew he couldn’t cry in front of anyone.

”Its okay man, I know how you feel but don’t blame yourself. We have no idea where she is so don’t blame yourself when you don’t even know what she is going through.” Boze reassuringly tapped Mac on the shoulder and walked away knowing that maybe he just needed to be alone for a bit.

Mac stood there watching the sky, when they all spoke about Riley there were loads of things Mac didn’t say. Mainly because it wasn’t funny but also because it didn’t feel right talking about her like that. Like she was dead.

One thing he didn’t share was the time Riley fell asleep on the floor outside. It was a couple weeks after she moved in and everything was going smoothly, aside from their indoor heating system. It was a freezing cold week and the pipes had somehow broken, usually Mac would go in and spend the day fixing it but they were at work all day and he knew it wasn’t just a 10 minute job. So they sat by the fire all evening instead.

 _Riley had brought all the pillows and blankets they had over near the fire despite the fact it was a major fire hazard_.

Along with some marshmallows, Mac managed to get a couple metal sticks together to make a structure they could use as a den. The night sky was clear for an LA night so they thought that it was a great excuse to go outside for the night (and because the inside of Macs house was cold enough to store refrigerated food) They got their comfiest clothes on and sat outside together.

Since it was still freezing outside they bundled up together and sat with their shoulders leaning against each other for warmth. It reminded him of when they went to Yellowstone together, well apart from the getting shot in the leg bit.

Riley watched as Mac pointed at all the different constellations in the sky. Mac always thought that everyone got bored of his ongoing nerdy rambling but Riley loved it, if only Mac knew that it made her fall in love with him even more.

After Mac had spoken for an hour it started getting late, he stopped talking and to his surprise Riley looked up as if to say ‘why’d you stop?’ So he then continued talking about the solar system. After a while he felt Riley’s head drop onto his shoulder. She fell asleep, Mac thought he must of bored her so much that she fell asleep but really it was just because Macs voice calmed her. 

He knew they couldn’t stay like this all night even though part of him wanted to. So he got up removing her head from his shoulder, picked up all the blankets and placed them on her so she stayed warm. He looked at her all warm in them blankets, she looked so warm and cozy, she even looked good while she was sleeping.

Then remembered that they were all the blankets they had. He didn’t want to take any off of her in case she became cold, so instead he put on a extra large jumper and found his gloves in his coat pocket. He prepared himself for a very very cold night.

_Mac smiled at this memory, he just wished she was there so they could laugh about it together. All it was now was a memory._

A tear began to roll down Macs face, he quickly wiped it away before anyone saw. The last thing he wanted was everyone worrying about him, Riley was enough to worry about, let alone him. He saw that everyone had left his house including Desi. Maybe some alone time would be good for him, he could think things through.

 _Instead he just panicked and made loads of conclusions as to what could of happened to Riley_.

She had been there for him through everything, even when Mac insisted he didn’t need anyone she was still there for him. Now she wasn’t, sure he had Desi but Mac knew that no would ever be like Riley.

_He began thinking about her and all the memories they had together again. All of a sudden he started thinking about how beautiful she was, her long black curls, amazing smile. Not to mention that she was also a genius. Wait a minute, what about Desi? Riley and him were just friends. That’s all.  
_

Mac shook his head to clear his mind, he figured it was probably just his emotions playing up in strange ways. Desi was his girlfriend and it was actually going well so far, they somewhat fixed the trust problem and it was going better than the last two times they tried dating. Mac couldn’t mess it up with her, he had lost so many people he couldn’t lose her because of his stupid emotions messing up his thoughts.

But was it just his emotions? Mac didn’t want to think about that right now, he already had enough going on, this was the least of his issues.

**\- The meeting -**

Riley’s face dropped in shock. They were going to kill her. Surly Leland would stand up for her. She took in a deep breath stood up, and said her next sentence. The sentence that her life depended on.

”Hey listen! I don’t need you to sit and trust me, you NEED me. The sceptre won’t open if I’m dead. I know you need a leader, Gwen is gone. I can help you. You don’t need to believe everything I say but just as much as codex can’t afford to have the Phoenix infiltrate it. You also can’t afford to lose me. I have the sceptre, Information on the Phoenix, tech skills. You guys need me just as much as I need you. You can either play it safe and kill me or take the risk, keep me alive and help me rebuild codex with you.” Riley knew this was the best she could do, if they decided to play it safe then there was nothing she could do. 

They all glanced at each other for approval of what they had agreed on, Leland interrupted their silent discussion.

”Shes right. Either way we are taking a risk and without the sceptre Codex will no longer exist. All it will result in is a slower end to everything we have built over the years. If she is part of the Phoenix then at least we can use her for the time being, she’s right we need her.”

Everyone stared at Leland in disgust for saying what he did. Riley saw everyone’s reaction and could tell it wasn’t good.

”I don’t want to agree... but she’s our only option.” The stern woman said reluctantly.

Everyone nodded their heads in defeat, agreeing with what Leland had said. This easy at least Codex had a chance it would take a while to build up what they had before but with the right tools and Riley there. Maybe there was a chance they still could. Riley just hoped that it wouldn’t happen too fast. 

Riley smiled at everyone to say thank you for not killing her. She never thought she would be in a situation where she would be thanking members of a terrorist organisation.

Everyone got out their seats and just as Riley was about to get up too, Leland spoke to her.

”Sit back down Miss Davis” Riley nervously pulled her chair back out and sat back down.

”umm okay.” She said reluctantly.

”I think you have brilliant leadership skills. I think you could be a great addition to Codex but if you are still a Phoenix then there is no place for you here. Everyone’s lives in here depend on you, we are letting you in and giving you what you want. Don’t let us down.”

”I won’t.” Riley knew that she was going to but she knew she needed to build trust. That was her current main goal, if she became close with Leland then she could become the new Gwen. Giving her a opportunity to run Codex and put a stop to it.

”Miss Davis there is something I see in you. Something I have seen before.”

”What’s that?” She hoped it was something good.

”Hope. In humanity.” Riley opened her mouth to speak but he quickly interrupted her.   
“You remind me of Gwen... she was always so passionate about what she did and she would do anything to help the people she loved.” She was surprised he said this since she left everyone she loved to come here in the first place.

”When Mr macgyver came here, he said everything I expected he would say. He was exactly what Codex represents. He was who he thought I wanted him to be. Gwen wasn’t like that, she didn’t pretend to not have a heart. She cared for the people in here like they were family. Her heart got her killed... Don’t make the same mistake.” The second he said that he got up from his chair and walked outside leaving her the only one sat at the table.

Riley took a minute to process what Leland had just said to her, she couldn’t ever tell if he was being aggressive or angry because everything he said was done calmly. Riley got up and walked to her room

She entered her room and sat on her bed to take a minute to calm down. She was slightly shaken after everything that had happened but she was also proud of herself for the speech she made. It saved her life, she saved her own life. 

She heard someone knock on her door again, Riley opened it to see the small ginger girl again.

”Hey I got told to deliver these to your room.” She had a couple plasters and bandages in her hand.

”Thanks but I’m fine. Nothing but a couple bruises from the fight to get into this place.” The girl smiled at Riley’s response.

”Well it’s better to be safe, plus it’s good for my training. I want to be a doctor when I’m older, but for now I just am a helping hand.” She passed Riley the bandages and placed the plasters on her desk.

”Wait a minute I recognise you, you look familiar. We’re you here when I last came?” Riley squinted her eyes to see if she could figure out where she recognised her from.

”I was here but I never met you. You did meet my sister though, Scarlett. I miss her so much.” Riley finally remembered who she was.

”You’re Ella. I remember Scarlett talking about you.” Riley smiled then remembered what happened to Scarlett.

”Yup that’s me. Scarlett is off doing some cool stuff somewhere. I do miss her but they said it was better if I just stay here and look after everyone.” Ella forced a smile.

”Ah well you seem to do a very good job at looking after everyone so I’m sure they don’t know what they would do without you.” Riley liked Ella, it was just a shame that she got wrapped up in Codex’s mess.

”Thanks but you were pretty cool earlier too. What you said to everyone in that meeting, I couldn’t of done that. In front of all them scary adults.” She shook her head in disgust at the thought of it. “I would probably faint half way through.” Ella laughed and began walking towards Riley’s door.

”How’d you hear about that?” Riley knew that she definitely didn’t see Ella near them so how could she of heard.

”This is Codex. You can’t keep secrets here. Everyone knows everything.” And at that moment she walked out the door smiling at Riley through the small crack where you could see the light poking through the door.

Riley opened her new laptop and immediately a message came up.   
  


‘Welcome to Codex’


	7. When it all gets too much.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley finds out what she needs to do to complete her mission.
> 
> MacGyver tries to move on but after while he finally breaks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im really sorry this one has taken a little longer than usual. I have been really busy but the next few should be out faster. 
> 
> Enjoy :)

**\- 1 month into the mission -**

Riley had now been on the mission for a month, it was slow going but she didn’t expect to have everyone trust her in just a couple weeks. This was going to be a long mission and Riley knew it. Every day was similar, she hadn’t seen Leland very often she figured that she would try and work her way up, she started helping the tech team and hopefully would work her way to where Gwen used to be.

Matty and her predicted it could be anywhere between three months to a couple years that she would be stuck in this depressing hole of a bunker. It also meant that If she was gone for long enough, Mac would start to think she was dead. Riley knew Mac couldn’t go through another loss, the thought that Riley could one day come back would hopefully be enough for him to keep going.

Riley got up and got ready for a seemingly normal day, go help the tech team, listen to any news and go to sleep to repeat the same thing the next day. She got ready and went into the main area of the bunker. Leland was there. Riley was shocked at the sight of him. Why would he be doing the news in the morning? This never happened, something big must be going on.

_Riley manoeuvred her way to the front of the crowd all of which where waiting to here the announcement Leland was about to give._

Leland stood up tall and began to start his speech.   
“Good morning Codex. I am sure you have realised that a morning announcement is abnormal for our schedule.” He paused and looked at the men standing beside him.

”We are thinking of planning an attack.” Everyone gasped including Riley.

“The idea is not set in stone and we aren’t even sure we should do it yet, but we thought we would prepare you for any developments.” Leland said thank you and was walked back to his room by armed guards one of which was Roman, he always seemed to be staring at Riley.

This was the last thing Riley needed, if they planned an attack and went through with it then all her friends could die. If the Phoenix managed to stop it then Mac would know that Codex is back and he will go back into the mess he was before. She couldn’t let the plan go forward, she had to stop it before it was too late. 

_But how_?

Riley knew she needed to think of something so she went to her room for some peace and quiet, until she was stopped on her way there.

”Umm excuse me can you look where your going.” Roman said in a frustrated tone after bumping into her.

”You bumped into me as well, it wasn’t just my fault.” Riley rolled her eyes, this was the last thing she needed.   
“And stop pointing that gun in my face.”   
Roman let go of his gun and it rested on his chest held on by some straps.

”Your Riley Davis aren't you?” He looked intrigued but slightly creepy.

”Yes I am and why does it matter to you.” She tried to get passed him but his muscular body blocked the way.

“Ah you were the traitor.” He paused and gave her a smirk. Riley wasn’t having any of it. “Okay so you’re not much of a talker then.”

”No I’m not.” She manages to barge past him and finally walk to her room. She hears a faint whistle when she opens the door to her room. In the corner of her eye she saw Roman still checking her out like she was a piece of meat at a butchers. She had never felt so uncomfortable.

Riley got into her room and realised she had to go back to the tech team in twenty minutes anyways, at least this would give her a small amount of time to think everything through and make a plan.

She laid on her bed and began brainstorming ideas to stop this future attack. All of them led to Leland, there was no way she could stop it without being able to talk Leland out of it, but the question was, how could she get Leland to listen to her. Every time she began getting somewhere her brain kept reminding her of Roman, what a creep. That’s when it all fell into place.

“ROMAN THATS IT!” Riley said in her room to no one but herself.

She could use Roman as a tool to get to meet more with Leland, get Leland to trust her and then find a way to talk him out of the plan. She went out to go see if she could ‘bump’ into Roman. It wouldn’t hurt being friends with the leader of the TAC team either so it was a win win situation.

To her surprise she walked into the main area and saw Roman, he was standing in his usual proud stance with his large gun griped in his hand and the other ‘seductively’ playing with his hair or beard.

She tried to keep her confidence and walk up to him. She knew she had to be quick anyways as the tech team expected her there in ten minutes. 

“Hello Miss Davis” he seemed to be seducing her.

”We meet again.” She tried to act nice in case she seemed like she was trying to be more than friends.

”What a pleasure.” She nodded in agreement and tried to contain her disgust at his sleeze talk.

She checked her watch and realised it was time for her to go to the tech room.

”Sorry I have to go, I will see you round Roman.” She forced a smile.

”I will walk you there” he put his arm on The small of her back, it made her shiver but she knew she had to leave it. It wasn’t the time to start a fuss, so she let him walk her to the tech room and he stood outside guarding the door.

_Adam who was one of the lead technology people came up to Riley to speak to her. She actually quite liked him, he was polite and was good to have a chat with while she was working._

”We actually have nothing for you to do today. Everything is caught up and... apparently someone needs to talk to you.” Adam awkwardly pointed at the door where Roman was poking his head through. 

Riley Rolled her eyes and walked to go speak to Roman to tell him to go away.

”Why are you still here?!” She said in a mildly annoyed tone.

”I just got a message, Leland wants to speak to you. I will walk you over. Let go, quick we don’t want to leave him waiting.” This was her chance she quickly hurried and she walked beside Roman to where Leland wanted to speak to her.

They finally got there and Riley could finally be apart from Roman. She entered a room that looked as though royalty could live there, the walls had gold trimmings and red velvet patterns on them. The chandelier looked like there were real diamonds placed intricately on each piece of the glimmering gold frame. So this is where all their money had gone. The floor was fancy too, she even wondered if she might have to take her shoes off but she figured they weren’t dirty anyways so what harm could they do. She walked through the large door and saw Leland sat at a small table with fine China placed on top of the white table cloth.

”Sit down Miss Davis.” He pointed towards the spare seat on the table.   
“Would you like a drink?” She saw two tea pots in front of her. Supposedly one with tea and one with coffee.

”Yes please, can I ask why I am here?”   
She said as Leland poured her a cup of what looked like to be Black coffee.

”Miss Davis I haven’t seen much of you lately, I feel like we need to get to know each other more.” He seemed sincere.

”I have been busy helping the tech team every day, also it took a while for me to settle into living inside a underground bunker.”

”Yes I have heard that you have been busy, but I need your advice.”

Riley looked confused, why would he be trusting her for advice. She betrayed them before and not only that, they barley knew each other.

”Umm okay. What do you need advice on?” She sipped her coffee and burnt her tongue, she didn’t react in case it ruined the conversation.

”See we spoke about our plan and since you have contributed lots to us I figured it would be good to ask you. Plus you know the Phoenix better than all of us so you can help us stop them from sabotaging it this time.”

Riley took a deep breath but looked scared. Leland took her hand.

”I see something in you... I see Gwen.”

Riley smiled and knew that she had gained some trust.

”So what’s the plan?”

”The plan is to build a second nuclear bomb. It will be very costly but it would guarantee our success in making a reset switch for this earth.”

_Riley gave a funny face to almost say are you sure that’s a good idea?_

”What is it? You don’t seem to think it’s a good idea.” He looked concerned and interested to hear what she had to say about it.

”Codex is low on money as it is, that’s going to reduce what we have. People are going to starve. Our job isn’t just to make a restart switch but to also keep the prime of humanity alive and well.”

He looked surprised, she had a very good valid point.

”Your right.” She breathed in relief. “Codex needs to not only survive but be able to go on for generations. We will postpone the plan for a later date. I knew your opinion would come in handy.”

”I want what’s best for Codex.” She knew that she had become far too good at lying.

”Do you have any questions Riley or shall I end our meeting?”

She did have one question, a very important question in fact. She needed to know how the Phoenix could capture them and what obstacles they would face.

”If for example the Phoenix were to find our location what would be the plan of action?”

”How exactly would they find out?” He dropped his glass.

”They won’t ever find me but there is money going on and out of this place and sooner or later they might figure out bits and pieces. I’m not sure how good they are without me but I’m sure they will find another hacker to replace me sooner or later.” The thought of being replaced made her stomach drop, what if they liked the new replacement more than her? She knew now wasn’t the time to think about that.

”We have a strict plan for any unknown predators. If it’s a small group then we will simply fight them like we did with you and Mr MacGyver but if there is a larger group then there is a protocol in place for such situations.” he took another sip of his tea.

”Which is?” She also took a sip of her drink and took a sweet from the tray placed in front of her.

”If a large group or TAC team come to infiltrate Codex then our ground floor will be opened up, everyone will be told to grab the essentials and pack into the safe room. Roman who is our TAC team leader will guide everyone through and stay outside the gates to protect. Other members of the TAC team will fight alongside Roman to buy us time to move everyone into the bunker. Then once we are all in, Roman will run into the bunker and activate the oxygen depletion, everywhere in the bunker will slowly be removed of oxygen suffocating everyone who enters. This should hopefully kill the majority of their forces and we should be able to the fight back and move everyone through the underground tunnel in time.”

”Underground tunnel?”

”This is our last resort as it is very risky but once the oxygen is back on, the tunnel will open and we will try and guide everyone through to the surface. Then we will spread out and try to not get caught. Is that all your questions Riley?”

”Yes thank you.”

”Well it was lovely meeting with you, I hope we can meet again.”

As soon as he said this Roman came barging through the door to come and bring her back into the main area. She got up and followed behind him. Now she knew the plans, she could figure out a way to let the Phoenix infiltrate them.

Her main problem was Roman, she knew that he could definitely kill a lot of the Phoenix TAC team and maybe even someone like Mac, she also needed to make sure he didn’t put the oxygen depletion system on. Which meant what she needed to do was stop Roman. Maybe she would have to get closer to Roman than she expected. A lot closer.

**\- The Phoenix -**

The team piled into the War room ready for another mission. It had been longer than a month since Riley disappeared. Mac felt recently that he had been living a simulation. Everyday was no longer a part of his life, it was just another day that Riley was gone and closer to probably being dead.

”Okay today is a bomb disposal, a bomb was found in town in a tall hotel. Everyone has been evacuated but we need you to stop the bomb, he seems like a crafty bomb maker so there might be traps. Hence why we they asked us to deal with it. The timer hasn’t started but we don’t know when it will so you better all get going. Boze you stay with me, Desi go with Mac in case anyone pays you a visit in the building.” They stood there for a bit. “Well hurry up the we don’t have all day!” She rushed them all out and sat down. She noticed how drained Mac looked. He looked lifeless.

She knew there wasn’t anything she could do but wait for a signal from Riley. She still had the letter but she figured she would know when it was the right time to give it to him. Now it still wasn’t right.

They all got into different black SUV’s and Desi drove to the destination of the bomb site. At the site there were people sat at laptops and barriers protecting the area from the public.

”You must be the Phoenix people?” A tall handsome man said to Mac.

”Yes we are, where is the bomb?”

”Its up twenty floors and the elevators aren’t working so a protective suit will just make it harder to get up there, you will have to go in there unprotected.” the man sounded nice and calm it reminded Mac of Charlie.

”Your saying we are going into a building that could explode any second without baby protective gear?” Desi wasn’t convinced that this was a good idea.

”Yes that’s what I’m saying.” Mac chucked at what this man said.

”Desi if we go in protective gear or not and the building explodes we are dead either way, he’s right it will just make it harder to get up there so it’s the best option to go without it.”

Desi just went along with it, like most of the things that came out Macs mouth. It made no sense but it was just best to go along with it and hope and pray it went well.

They entered the building and started making their long journey up the 20 flights of stairs. It was a incredibly tall building and it was going to be a workout getting up to the top. At least it gave Desi a chance to try and talk to Mac about what’s been going on in his head.

_They went up the first five floors in a awful silence, both of them scared to say anything in case they agitated the other. They were both so tense. Desi finally decided to break the silence._

”It’s been a busy month.” Matty had tried to keep Mac busy to keep his mind off Riley.

”Yeah it has.” He tried to make it clear he didn’t want to talk but Desi didn’t take it.

”Mac you are meant to be my boyfriend and you haven’t had a proper conversation with me for weeks. You need to tell me what’s going on in that head if yours!” She stared at him but he didn’t look back.

“Yes I’m sorry. It’s just with everything that’s happened I don’t really want to talk.” He stayed calm but she didn’t.

”I get that Mac but we promised after codex we would be honest with each other. How am I supposed to be your girlfriend if you never tell me anything!”

”I AM BEING HONEST. I DON’T WANT TO TALK!” Mac shouted and everyone on comms heard.   
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to...” 

“It’s fine, I get it. You just want Riley.”

Hearing her name made Mac feel sick, he had no idea what she could be going through right now and he had no way to be there for her like he always promised he would be.

_They continued to go up the other fifteen flights in silence. Neither of them wanted to talk in case it would distract them from the mission. They finally got up to the bomb. Both of them where very out of breath._

”I will do a check for any surprises, you diffuse the bomb.” Desi walked out the room gun in hand preparing herself to kick some ass.

_Mac turned on comms to hear Matty’s voice._

“Mac tell me what you see.” She tried to sound reassuring.

”There are five wires each in different colours it’s pretty standard bomb making. It is a complicated bomb and could take a bit of thinking but I think I got it.”

”Is it connected to anything?” Matty was scared it was going to be similar to the Ghost’s devices.

_Mac took a look at the device and didn’t see any connections so he knew it wasn’t and he informed Matty._

Mac began looking for ways to diffuse the bomb, he heard Desi’s footsteps. Then she tripped and Mac heard a beep.

”Rooms are clear.”

”What did you just trip over?” Mac said with fear in his voice.

”There was a weird string?”

“Desi it was a trip wire.” He looked back towards the bomb and saw the five minute timer that started ticking in front of him. He now had to do this a lot faster than he thought.

”Ummm I’m sorry.” Desi moved closer to Mac.

”Desi it’s fine I just need to concentrate!”

Mac began fondling about with the device his hands slowly started shaking and the thoughts of dying came into his mind. What if this was it, he wouldn’t be dying alone but why did it feel like he would be.

_Three minutes left on the timer_

”I can’t find the numbers!” Macs voice started to become closer to a cry for help. He started shaking and he had no idea how to stop.

”Hey your Mac you can do anything!” Desi tried supporting him but it wasn’t the same.

”I CAN’T! Boze if your there I want you to know..” 

“Mac no, think of her. What she said for you to remind yourself. Emotions are stronger than the bomb at your feet, you can do this Mac.” He felt the ghost of her hand on his shoulder he hahah to cry but made sure Desi couldn’t see.

_One minute left_

”I don’t want to die alone.” Mac mumbled under his breath.

He kept looking on the side of the box for the last thing but he didn’t have long left the timer was ticking down and they felt like the shortest 5 minutes of his life.

_Thirty seconds left_

”I FOUND IT!” In his mind he thought of her, he thought of Riley. She was there for him through everything until now.

10...9...8...7...6...5...4 

He put the cutters round the wire.

3...2 

The timer was left on one second.

Mac and Desi took a deep breath. It was over, he wasn’t going to die. But he still didn’t have Riley back.

”Mac?..” Matty was scared she wouldn’t hear an answer.

“It’s diffused. We did it.” Mac didn’t sound happy even-though he just saved himself from a life death situation.

Matty heard the sadness in his voice. He was broken. Maybe it was time for him to revive the letter. 


End file.
